2014 Eclipse Awards: Goldencents
As the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile unfolded at Santa Anita on Oct. 31, the most optimistic supporter of Goldencents had to doubt whether the 4-year-old colt could win.
Steve AndersenJan 06, 2015
As the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile unfolded at Santa Anita on Oct. 31, the most optimistic supporter of Goldencents had to doubt whether the 4-year-old colt could win.
At a time in her life when many racemares have been retired to become broodmares, Don’t Tell Sophia is getting better with age. A 6-year-old in 2014, she produced her best campaign yet.
Champions, Hall of Famers, all-time greats. Jonathan Sheppard has trained all kinds of steeplechasers during a career now in its sixth decade. But he’s never had a horse like Divine Fortune, who proved his talent and resiliency with another championship-level campaign at age 11.
North America’s Grade 1 steeplechase schedule includes just six races. They range from 2 1/16 miles to 3 miles, May to November, Tennessee to New York, flat/fast racetracks to hilly/taxing racecourses. Demonstrative made all six – putting up three wins, a second (by a nose), a third, and a sixth. The three Grade 1 wins led all 2014 steeplechasers. The $362,500 in earnings, the second-highest total for a season in history, did as well.
The New York-bred mare Dayatthespa long ago outgrew her roots. There were clues from the beginning that it could happen.
Expectations were high for Close Hatches in 2014. She entered the year ranked among the leaders of the older female division following a 2013 campaign at age 3 that included Grade 1 wins and a runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Javier Castellano set a high standard in 2013, when he won his first Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey after establishing a North American record for mount earnings in a year. Castellano again managed to reach significant heights in 2014, and because of his accomplishments, he is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding jockey for the fourth time.
California Chromes’s story brings hope that good fortune can shine on anyone in this sport, that you don’t have to buy your way to the top. His owners took an $8,000 mare, bred her to a $2,500 stallion, and reached the summit on the first Saturday in May.
Rare is the horse who can hold his form from January through November, and rarer still the horse who does so in his first year on the track. But Bayern proved throughout 2014 that he was a rare talent, good enough to run in the biggest races in the spring, summer, and fall, traveling extensively, and saving his best for last.
In late August, trainer Bob Baffert’s stable appeared to be in a momentary state of decline. Haskell Invitational winner Bayern had just finished last in the Aug. 23 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, and a day later, longtime stable stalwart Game On Dude faded to fourth in the Pacific Classic Del Mar – a disappointing race that swayed his connections to retire him.